October 30th

I think I should change my name to Busy...I am so busy..since the frost came this week, I needed to finish snapping green beans, which will become part of Sunday dinner tomorrow, plus I put up 3 quarts and 1 pint of jalapeno peppers, plus I did 5 pints of Apple Conserve, and I just made Apple Cookies...which made me feel better, running on a sugar high...LOL
The porch was completed this morning....now we have to see how we can proceed with the deck. Cement is too high, so it will probably have to be wood.



Measuring the height of the deck to be built yet...






The stoves have been lifted up and the stovepipe is in place. Benny came in laughing and said he started a fire in one of them, and it was great...takes little to amuse us old folks...The tile work is so pretty....



The one in the bedroom still lacks trim around the front. I plan to use Benny's great uncle's old brand to burn the brand all across the wood piece in front of the wood stove. I also need to buy a fireproof hearth rug to go in front of it...





The light has been put up in the kitchen...still waiting for the pot holder to be attached to the top of the ceiling....




And two pictures of my very favorite...the deer head ! And a smaller one of just little antlers below it, and an old rusty horse shoe I found under the house when it was moved....Hope my luck will be good the rest of the year....

October 28th

Well, today accomplished a little bit more. Last night I heard the sound of machinery and looked down the street...the back porch was being put up !!! I was so excited to see that being done.





Half of it is across now, it is slow to put up, lots of work for the guys.
We are still waiting for help to arrive to lift the wood stoves back in place. This is taking longer than I thought, just can't get everybody together at the same time.
Homeless Friend came and put the light back up in the kitchen. I talked to him today that I was not happy the way things were being done, felt he could do more to help out for what we were providing him with.....he did work most of the afternoon, but I don't know what will become of him later down the road. I want people to keep their word with me instead of waiting for the job to be done as agreed and they never show up. He had done nothing in over two weeks. We will see how things turn out later on...
And my dear friend Terri came to visit me today, we always have so much fun, praising the Lord for all His blessings, and discuss our faiths. I found a great bargain on Ramen Noodles today....close out.....$1 a case....24 packages in a case...I ended up buying 7 cases, so I shared...she took five.....I love a bargain.
And I shared a jar of applebutter with another friend...had to fancy the jar up a little bit...I have been doing fancy jars this year...LOL

October 27th

Time seems to stand still at times. I want to have so much finished, and I find that I must be patient and just wait . I really have to pray for more patience. We have had heavy rains and that kept everything at a standstill. Waiting for workers to have the time to do the job is hard...Supplies are hard to come by at times, requiring trips to Abilene or Brownwood to get what is needed to finish the jobs. The kitchen is painted now, but some trim needs to be done yet, and the light needs put back up and the pot holding rack. The tilework is completed in the bathroom, but it still lacks the toilet, the rest of the paneling, and the floor will have to be tiled. The shower faucet still needs put in this week, but Benny discovered a leak in his bathroom behind the shower when the water was turned on, and it will require cutting through the back of the house to get to it. Hopefully, we can get this done soon. The tile work is all completed where the wood stoves will sit, but now the stoves have to be lifted back in place and they are heavy. Hopefully, today, Eric and some friends can help lift them up into place. I still need to have the carpets all shampooed, but have to wait till the water is on....

Meanwhile, down at the second house....
It is now sitting on blocks.....good and sturdy..



I love the deer heads on the side of the house...


And the deck has been attached, and we are putting up fence around it to keep the steer from rubbing his horns on it....






Panels have doubled in price. We bought 25 last year for $300. This time it cost $625 for 25 split panels...WOW...but we had to have them, the quickest way to get up the fence and get Hombre back home. Bless our dear friend Deany for taking care of him for us while we got the house pulled in and the fence redone....




Hopefully, this week will be better...one step at a time..and they are baby ones...

October 18th

Benny had picked green beans from our garden, and I was busy snapping them and taking off the strings when the phone rang .....it was our real estate lady...."You're house has just cross the field, and should be there in about an hour...WOW ! The Good Lord and I had just had a good talk on patience, and I lost...LOL...We drove out to see it coming in, and what a thrill it was....This was a TIGHT SQUEEZE !!!! James had less than 12 inches to spare between the high line pole and the tree...he turned it on a dime. This man really knows how to drive a truck and load...



We had mowed down all the sunflowers, so they just brought it on into the lot...





And we want it to set right here...so James backed it up and reset it for us....



The guys immediately went to work to get it off the truck, and set it up with blocks...





And down at the western house, the ceilings are done and now will be painted, and the woodstove areas are being tiled....








And I just paid the guys for bringing in the house, they have it blocked and set already...Tomorrow, I will get to go inside and discover all the treasures that were left for me.....can't wait.....

September 14th

More delays today on moving the second house in...the electric company has not shut off the electricity as yet...was supposed to have been done Monday...the house mover stated he and the boys had done all they could to this point...have the real estate call them when it was off so they could move it...maybe tomorrow...lessons in patience. I told the mover maybe the Good Lord wanted all of us to have a little rest, it would be done in His time...
Here are some pictures of the second house....getting it ready to move it....


Jacking up the house and stabilizing it....



They had to put bolts into the porch to make sure it stays tight...


The small room at the back is the bathroom that was added on...hope it stays...LOL






It has a huge kitchen...bear in mind, it will need cleaned up when it comes in, there has been a crew of guys living in it...that is why there is no picture of the bathroom inside...LOL



This is a little coffee room right off the kitchen....




One of the bedrooms....there are two bedrooms, I thought there were three,but I was wrong...


Then, down at the western house, the ceiling in the kitchen has been blown, and it is so pretty, and they were laying the earth tone tiles for the floors where the wood stoves sit..and the sewer line was completed today, and Benny got it covered all up.....





And Benny's brother and wife visited today...had a wonderful visit...Judy loved my dehydrated tomatoes and apples, said she was going home and order her a dehydrator !

October 11th

I finally came to the realization this morning that I could no longer count on Homeless Friend for work to be done, he has too many irons in the fire. We will continue to try to help him, but I am not going to count on his help anymore. I will arrange to get it done by someone else, and not have to wait and wait for work to be done by him.
Eric came and helped us yesterday....he amazed me....the shower is in, the vanity in place, and most of the panelling is now in place...IN ONE HALF DAY ! He will continue to help us as he can, as he has a full time job cutting wood as well.
Benny continues to work on the plumbing in the shower.....



The vanity.....


and the sewer line was dug today by the backhoe.....



And to top the day off, we received a call that the second house will be delivered on Wednesday, and the owner said to leave the furniture in it...I don't know what it will contain...a surprise package....LOL....but all of it will be put to good use. We also mowed the cow lots today in preparation of the house delivery...now to move Hombre the Longhorn down to our place for a week or two, and we need to take down part of the fence tomorrow....










And apples are dehydrating as we speak, and I still have about a bushel of pears to make into pear honey...

October 5th

Progress is very slow and very expensive, but we plod along....I find myself being very impatient at times, I feel work should be going faster, but when you have to rely on only yourself and helpmate, you find you are both old and slow...LOL...
The kitchen is being taped and bedded,and the ceiling should get done by this week. I have ordered chicken wallpaper border to go over the sink area, but it has not come in yet.



Benny is working hard trying to get the plumbing done...our helper does not show up too regularly, so he has to crawl under the house, measure, come back out and cut, go back under...quite comical at times....




Dapper loves to run from one end of the house to the other, he is such a funny little dog....I am glad Benny saved his little life, he is a joy to have around us.



My bathroom is being worked on slowly....the sink, vanity, and shower have been purchased, and Benny is doing all the plumbing...the helper is taping and bedding the walls...




I keep reminding myself.....for every thing there is a time and purpose...and need a lot of knee mail at times, but I remind myself often of how blessed I really am...one day at a time, just keep on the narrow path.....